Georgia Section On My Mind

July, 2006

Greetings, All.

Yeah, I know that this newsletter is a little later than usual. But I have a reeeeeally good reason. It's because something else occurred a little earlier than expected. Our newest granddaughter was due on July 3, but she decided to make her grand entrance on June 21. So, instead of being at home, working at the computer, we've been in Orlando, meeting the littlest angel and spoiling our grandkids. We headed straight to Orlando from Field Day, so needless to say, "other stuff" got put on the back burner.

So now, I'm gonna throw this newsletter together as fast as possible and get it outta here. It may be a little disjointed, and more abbreviated than usual, but hey! We've got a brand new granddaughter!! Life is good.

If you have any pictures (with captions, please) or text that you'd like to share from this year's Field Day fun, please send them directly to our webmaster BOB SMITH, K4PHE, at k4phe@bellsouth.net Thank you.

Back in the Dark Ages, I used to go past a dry cleaner's store on the way to school that had a sign in the window that said "Grime Doesn't Pay". (I didn't have the money in those days to actually USE the dry cleaner, but I never forgot that clever sign.) Along that same line, this month's one-liners are on various sings (true or not) that supposedly have been spotted at various locations.

OK, let's get on with it.

At a proctologist's door: "To expedite your visit, please back in."

JUNE HIGHLIGHTS

June 2-4 --- Special Olympics GA--- Anyone who has ever volunteered in any capacity with the Special Olympics already knows how rewarding that can be. And anyone who has ever served as the communications coordinator for an event of this magnitude knows how much stress can be involved in trying to recruit enough volunteers to meet all of the needs. Kudos to STEVE GARRISON, N4SEG, for once again doing such a great job as coordinator, and many thanks from him, as well as the organizers of the Special Olympics GA, to all of the volunteers who stepped forward and made the venture a successful one. Whether you were there for a couple of hours, or for the whole bloomin' weekend, (like Steve always is) you made a difference. Many thanks to all of you for once again giving amateur radio a good name.

June 3 --- Atlanta ARC Hamfest --- This was another good Hamfest, well-attended, and with a boneyard about as big, or bigger, than last year. There were fewer indoor vendors this year, and they were all concentrated into one building, which actually worked out very nicely, as it left the other building open for meetings and forums. DAN HENDERSON, N1ND, who'd recently changed roles from the ARRL Contest Manager to become the new Regulatory Information Specialist, put that meeting place to good use by leading an excellent ARRL forum in there. (And I'm pleased to say, in spite of that fancy new title, Dan's still the same laid-back, friendly guy as ever, and can still tuck away a rack of ribs with the best of 'em.) As always, SE Division Director FRANK BUTLER, W4RH, SE Division Vice Director SANDY DONAHUE, W4RU, and I enjoyed meeting with all of you who stopped by the ARRL booth to chat, and it's a pleasure to report that we signed up a good number of new members. Many thanks to the members of the Atlanta ARC who worked so hard to host this event for our enjoyment, and to each and every one of you who were able to attend. For Hamfests to survive and thrive, it's up to us to support them. And the best way to support them is to attend them. Big or small, we love 'em all! If you didn't make it to the Hamfest this year, hope to see you there next year.

June 24-25 --- Field Day--- Hopefully, most of you had the opportunity to participate in some way in this year's Field Day. As for my better half MIKE SWIDERSKI, K4HBI, and me, our whirlwind tour took us through Southeast GA this year. The fun actually began on Friday night in Augusta, where DONALD "ANDY" ANDERSON, K4PSW, arranged a big dinner meeting at a local all-you-can-eat restaurant, which was attended by members of the two local clubs, the ARC of Augusta and the Columbia County ARC, as well as by some of our fellow Army MARS members. What a great way to start the weekend! Heartfelt thanks to Andy for setting this up, and for serving as our "official host" while we were in town. It was great to meet with so many of the local hams in such a relaxed atmosphere, and we appreciate everyone who attended. We especially appreciate BILL CLEEK, N4UZQ, who's still recovering from some medical problems, for stopping by for a short visit with us. Get well soon, Bill.

Our first visit on Field Day morning was with the members of the Columbia County ARC, who were setting up in style at the Ft. Gordon Recreation Center. They had two air-conditioned trailers on adjacent lots, right by the water, and with lots of shade. What a great location. (If they got tired of fishing for contacts, they had the extra added option of doing a little fishing for supper.) Shortly after arriving, we got to see the results of some savvy trouble-shooting by J.C. CRAWFORD, W4QK, who'd been having a beastly time trying to put one of the antennas together. Though I don't believe it ever appeared in one of the "Hints and Kinks" books, he found that an application of shampoo provided just the right little dab that'll do ya. (You might say that it worked "Heads and Shoulders" above banging on it with a hunk of wood...) Worked like a charm. Among the variety of antennas that were being set up, ALAN JAMES, AG4ZE, showed us an interesting antenna that he'd be stringing, a sort of a variation on a G5RV. For more info on this antenna, see www.w5gi.com/mysteryantenna.htm 

The next stop was with the ARC of Augusta folks, who were setting up in Patriot's Park. It was still morning, but wow! Was it ever hot already! I sure hope they got a bit of a breeze or maybe even a little rain to cool things down a bit later in the day. And hopefully, the temperatures cooled a bit before SID "HUTCH" HUTCHINSON, WB4GGS, got on the air and started making those CW contacts, because his smokin' fist probably heated things back up in a hurry. For their operations, club members set up three canopied areas, side by side, in an area where they could quickly attract the attention of other park visitors. And smart folks that they were, they were also in close proximity to a cluster of port-a-potties. (a VERY important consideration, especially at 3 and 4 AM, after a daylong of guzzling bottled water...)

Then it was on to R.B. Baker Park, on highway 21 near Springfield, where some members of the Statesboro ARS were joining forces with some Effingham county hams, including EC VAL ASHCRAFT, AF4VH. There were some stations set up under a pavilion, but the real eye-catcher was Val's emergency communication and training vehicle. That thing's quite impressive. I was told that it's used for training firefighters, and can be filled with smoke to emulate a fire. It even has a working fireplace in there, and a stand of bleacher-like seating. Needless to say, the fireplace wasn't needed, but the air-conditioner was blasting away. While we were there, we enjoyed talking with the folks and hearing about what's going on in the area, but we also couldn't help but notice something else that was going on that caught our eyes... and our noses. Another group that was sharing the pavilion was chowing down on a pile of freshly-steamed blue crabs. (Not that we needed the incentive, but once we got back home again, Mike and I found it necessary to follow suit and indulge ourselves with a pile of those tasty critters...)

From there, we visited two sites in Savannah. The ARC of Savannah was set up at the National Guard Recreational Facility. They were in a huge screened-in building with stations spread out here and there, with a long table for food set up at one end of the room. Lots of people, young and old, were there, and everyone seemed to be having a good time. (One of the youngsters who was there was a precocious red-headed young man named JORDAN, son of PHIL NEIDLINGER, KA4KOE. There's a great picture of him on our website, caught sleeping at Field Day while cuddled up next to a very unusual "pet") It was great to see so many people in attendance at this location, and since they were planning to have some deep-fried turkey for dinner, I'll betcha their numbers swelled even more as the dinner hour drew closer...

We found members of the Coastal ARC operating from inside the cool comfort of a firehouse. It was real good to see some YLs among the folks sitting in front of the radios there. Good to see some youngsters, too. STEVE JONAS, K4SDJ, wanted to make sure that we'd noticed his "antenna trailer" as we drove in; a metal utility trailer was actually used as the base to hold up one of their antennas. Pretty cool.

Our final stop was in Jesup, where we finally got the timing right, arriving shortly after dinner was ready. Low country boil. Yum! (Good banana pudding, too!) The Wayne county communications vehicle provided the basis for operations, and the park provided a pleasant place for visiting and relaxing. (except for those pesky gnats... don't ya wonder why ol' Noah didn't swat those things when he had the chance?) There were plenty of familiar faces there, and though we enjoyed seeing everyone, we were absolutely delighted to find DOT FENNELL, KA4HHE, among them. Those of you who know Miss Dot will be pleased to know that she looks terrific and is doing well.

That was it. We thoroughly enjoyed visiting with everyone, talking with old friends, and making new ones. Many thanks to everyone for their hospitality, and a very special thank you to MIKE SWIDERSKI, K4HBI. He's the one who puts in all of those long hours behind the wheel of that little red car. I just go along for the ride. And thoroughly appreciate it.

On a plastic surgeon's door: "Hello. Can we pick your nose?"

CLUB NEWS

ALBANY ARC --- The program at a recent meeting was on APRS and WinLink, presented by some members of the Tallahassee ARC. To promote APRS activity in the area, the club will be installing an APRS digipeater at the home QTH of RICHARD MOREFIELD, WB4TFW. With the omni-directional antenna mounted at the 100 foot mark of Richard's tower, this will be a huge asset for area hams.

ALFORD MEMORIAL ARC --- FRED RUNKLE, K4KAZ, did a presentation at the June meeting to tell members about the changes that Red Cross has implemented to encourage more amateur radio operators to become Red Cross volunteers. Gone are the days when all volunteers are required to take all of the training courses, and must commit to deploying for local fires, etc. Amateur radio operators are wanted for their communications and technical skills, and can concentrate their efforts in those areas.

GATEWAY ARC --- Cleveland GA: We had a wonderful time on Field Day -- we won't mention how many contacts we made (nothing to brag about); we will brag that we had 20 club members turn out to set up, operate, take down -- and eat. We feasted. We had nine visitors, including a county commissioner. We had two weeks' worth of wonderful ham radio promotions, dramas all, on WRWH radio. We ran three stations for Field Day, a 15, a 20, and a 40-meter (most of our contacts were on 40 meter); we ran on battery power all day (charged up by a small generator from time to time). One of our new club members was a visitor to Field Day last year, and another saw our press release in the local paper. Three of our visitors this year are hams -- maybe looking for a club home. And considering that it is our third annual Field Day, after a long time of not having one at all, we're well pleased with our weekend. (de DIANA WHITE, KB4SNU)

GWINNETT ARS --- Club member and Gwinnett county EC JOHN DAVIS, WB4QDX, provided a program for the June club meeting on WinLink 2000. He answered a lot of questions, and hopefully generated a lot of interest in farther pursuing this communications tool. SCOTT HARTLAGE, KF4PWI, also worked with a bunch of other club members before and during the meeting, to set up a multitude of laptop computers in preparation for Field Day, so that they'd be networked for logging purposes. (Boy, quite an improvement since the last time Mike and I spent the Field Day weekend with GARS, using the paper dupe sheets and using a thumbs up or thumbs down signal to indicate a dupe...)

NORTH GA ARC --- Dahlonega GA: (Field Day Results compiled by BOB LEAR, K4SZ): Well, the weather kept us off the air for more time than we were on so the score is our lowest ever, but since it's not a contest (?), then it doesn't matter, does it? 100 digital Q's on 20 & 40, 83 phone Q's on 20 & 40 and 11 phone Q's on 6m for 388 points with 200 bonus points for generator power giving a total of 588. The lowest score we've turned in for the past 10 years was 1248. Set-up went very well and take down was quick but we still got caught at the end by a "Frog-Strangler" type thunderstorm. Only five of us camped out over Saturday night. We had a great time, even with the thunderstorms. If you weren't there with us - or with somebody's Field Day operation, you missed a good time. Put it on your calendar for next year. The fourth full weekend in June! (de DIANA WHITE, KB4SNU)

QCWA --- At the Peach State Chapter 49 June meeting, member FRANKIE WOMACK, W4BJT, presented a program on an interesting project involving the Hoover Dam. Partly for security reasons, a new road is being built that will go "straight across", circumventing the need for vehicles to take the circuitous route they must now take, and keeping them away from the dam itself. As you can imagine, this is a tremendous undertaking, and one which will surely be highlighted on a future Discovery Channel program on amazing engineering feats. But Frankie's job was to establish reliable communications for the workers to use while working on this mammoth project. A daunting task, but one which, he, of course, met quite handily. Very interesting.

On a taxidermist's window: "We know our stuff."

A DIFFERENT FIELD DAY

This terrific account was written by MIKE BROWN, KE4FGF, president of the THOMASVILLE ARC:

Our Club members eagerly await that fateful weekend in June when we can get together, make a few contacts, and have a good meal. This year, things were planned out a little bit different than in the past. While the median age of Thomasville ARC members definitely skews older, 30 years old and up, this year, we had as guest operators, the "Jefferson County Hamsters", median age...10. JCHC is a youth group, affiliated with 4H, started by two of our club members, to give their children and others, "a club to call their own". Their son, Jorden, KI4NBW, is the 12 year old President of the group. Jorden readily agreed to help me with our annual FD interview on local radio station WPAX, and to say he did well wouldn't be enough credit. I literally could have sat this one out. Field Day Saturday dawned clear but hot and in the midst of set-up, Jorden and 5 other members of his group jumped right in to help. Little fingers run cables in tight places better than big fingers, and the girls got a big kick out of flagging the guy lines (and themselves) with fluorescent pink ribbons. 2 o'clock finally hit and we started with the Control Ops running things with kids watching, and then moved them up to the logging position behind a laptop. All the while, the operators explained what the exchanges were about, what "2 alpha" actually meant, and "gee, did you know that the "Victor India" you just heard was actually the Virgin Islands?" Brothers Richard and Robert White (ages 9 and 11) found the "funny antenna" and HT for the satellite station fascinating. After about 30 minutes, I noticed that the operator on the 20 meter station was considerably younger and shorter than a few minutes before. Now, obviously, contest style pile-ups with everyone talking at once and over top of one another was a really new experience for the kids but as I sat with Kevin Thompson, age 12, on Sunday morning, I heard him trying to get the final information from a station in South Dakota. What impressed me the most was that even though it took 5 or 6 times, he gave the other stations call-sign, and said "I still need your section please?" Wow...patience, persistence, and politeness...what a winning combination...and in a 12 year old no less. He must make his parents proud. A bit later, we had a visit from TV station WCTV and it was once again interview time for me. After finishing, I introduced the reporter to Jorden, our "other President". Again, he rose to the occasion. When the reporter asked why someone his age would be interested in what we were doing, he said "Getting our area prepared for a disaster isn't just a job for adults...the kids need to know they can play a part too." I stood there thinking "wow, he gets it...We should have done this a long time ago." Earlier that morning, as I checked the generator, Sara, age 8 walked up behind me, took my hand and said "they won't let me talk on the radio." I knew that since she is very soft spoken, she'd never get through the still rampant pile-ups on the HF gear, but the 2 meter talk-in station was available and unoccupied so she got to talk to someone on the far quieter local repeater. While it wouldn't make the score sheet, she'd be able to tell her friends at church that night that she'd talked to someone on the radio at Field day too. Will our scores be as high as in past years...no, but no one in our group really cares. Our level of enjoyment out of this operation was at an all time high. And if nothing else counts we did make 5 very precious contacts, those with the "Hamster kids". We, as already licensed hams, always bemoan the fact that, like WWII vets, our experienced operators, the older experienced operators that is, are fading away and the speed at which "keys" become silent is faster and faster as the years go by. Are we doing all we can to infuse new blood at the other end? The assault on our bands is at an all time high and the only way to make sure we keep them is to get the younger generation involved and the best way to do that is to make sure they realize they are a valued member of our hobby. And we have to do this now because it's late in the game...can we still win? When he sat down with me to begin operating again on Sunday morning, Kevin said, "I dreamed about Field Day and radios all night last night!!" The ball is in our court. Think about it....

On a fence: "Salesmen welcome! Dog food is expensive."

A BRIEF HISTORY OF FIELD DAY

If you happen to have a copy of the December 1999 QST, you can find a very interesting article in there on page 28, entitled, "Field Day, A Mirror of Amateur Radio History", written by ROL ANDERS, K3RA.

For those of you who don't happen to have a copy of this issue at your fingertips, here are some interesting tidbits that were gleaned from this article:

*The first Field Day was held in 1933, and it began at 4PM on the second Saturday of June, and ran for 27 hours. The announcement about this premiere event was made by F.E. HANDY, W1BDI, in a little blurb in QST. He declared that the "real object of this contest is to test portables wherever they may be available." (P.S. NOTE: He DID call it a "contest"!) It was his hope to make it an annual affair. (He succeeded! The only years without Field Day were during WWII, from 1942-45.) ) For that first year, each QSO with a fixed station was worth 1 point, those with portable stations were worth 2 points, and DX stations were worth 3 points. The winner of that first year's competition was W4PAW, a non-club group that made 62 contacts, with a multiplier of 28 sections or countries for a whopping grand total of 1876 points. The largest number of contacts (98) was logged by the Central Illinois Radio Club, W9ZZAL. (The "ZZ" at the beginning of the suffix indicated "portable".)

*In 1934, a 2X multiplier was introduced if either the receiver or transmitter were operating independent of public mains. If both were, the multiplier became 3X. Multipliers were also instituted depending on power levels used. (20W or 60W!)

*The June Field Day was so popular in 1936 that a SECOND Field Day was held that year in August.

*The sending of messages became a part of Field Day in 1937. For the first time, the winning number of QSOs topped 200, (204) which worked out to a Q rate of 7.5 per hour.

*To facilitate approval of the portable operations, the FCC made a general announcement about the Field Day period of operations in 1941.

*In 1948, 11 M counted as a Field Day band.

*In 1949, Field Day messages began being sent to the SCM, (today's SM) rather than to HQ.

*The number of participants in 1957 topped the 10,000 mark for the first time.

*1970 marked the initiation of the Novice station.

*In 1973, a new 50-point bonus for making a satellite contact was added.

*By 1975, SSB usage had tipped the scales so far towards phone contacts that a 2X multiplier was initiated for CW contacts.

*In 1980, the rules no longer required portable call sign designators.

*In 1981, because of the popularity of packet radio, a 100 point bonus was added for a single packet radio QSO. The all-time high score was earned by the Yankee Clipper Contest Club and the Wireless Institute of the Northeast, W2RQ, by combining their efforts to rack up 11,201 points. (Since this article was written in 1999, I don't know if this record still stands or not.)

*As a reflection of the growing number of technician class licensees, a bonus of 100 points was added in 1993 for making 10 VHF/UHF contacts.

*By 1998, VHF/UHF operations were so commonplace that the 100 point bonus was dropped. Digital modes, such as RTTY and PSK-31, were added as a third mode on every band.

*So, how was Field Day 2006 for YOU?

At a propane filling station: "Tank heaven for little grills."

ARES NEWS

*** COBB COUNTY ARES --- Members participated in a drill with the Cobb-Douglas County Department of Health on June 8, 2006. It was a simulated drill about injured people being air lifted to Dobbins Air Base from a simulated Hurricane site. Basically like the real thing that happened with Katrina last year. A considerable number of victims, with various injuries were removed from a plane for preliminary medical work and then distributed to various Hospitals in the Atlanta area. They did preliminary evaluations and work-ups of the patients at the flight line then scheduled them for delivery to the hospitals. None were actually transported, but the simulation took place. As part of the 5 hour drill, they had planned for all terrestrial communications to be declared inactive and Ham Radio must be used for all communications during that part of the drill. BOB BUTLER, W4RBB, represented Cobb ARES on the scene at Dobbins. (The Department of Health had him as a member of their team to provide the proper credentials to get him and Ham Radio on Dobbins Base).

LEW CASON, N4HRA, and SID BISHOP, KB4QKZ, operated from their homes, acting as Hams at the various Hospitals. They received information regarding the various patients conditions, evaluations, and heads-up information for medical teams for preparation for patient arrivals at the various hospitals.
Traffic with patients medical needs simulated:
Atlanta Med = 1, Cobb General = 2,
Crawford Long = 4 Emory = 2
Grady = 6 Kennestone =1
North Side = 2 Piedmont = 1
Pine Grove = 1

Also, on June 16, 2006 Cobb county ARES members participated in a Cobb County - Dobbins Air Base Terrorist, Haz-mat, evacuation, shelter drill which incorporated 53 public service organizations and Cobb ARES. Members were used to staff simulated shelters and provide communications with the county EOC, and Red Cross.

The Cobb-Douglas Department of Health is in the process of remodeling their headquarters in Cobb County. In various meetings, they have asked and we have provided equipment lists that they are purchasing to install and have operational at their headquarters building for our hams to operate. Marietta CMC (Crisis Management Center) in the past also had set up a nice Ham area in their CMC for us to use. (de SID BISHOP, KB4QKZ, Cobb ARES AEC, Events)

*** TIFT COUNTY ARES --- This group got a real boost a couple of months ago, when the EMA Director, Police Chief, and Sheriff agreed at a meeting with Tift county ARES members of the Coastal Plains ARC and DEC BOB SMITH, K4PHE, that they were very interested in including the ARES group into their emergency plans. Being "very interested" translated recently into a call from the EMA Director to get a shopping list of equipment needed for the EOC so it could be added into the budget... radio, antennas, computers, etc. As Bob said, "I wish all of our meetings with counties went as well as this one." CONGRATULATIONS to EC PAUL BOYD, KE4RJI, and to all of the members of Tift county ARES.

*** Several new appointments to announce: In COWETA county, CHRIS MCGEHEE, KLØUD, has taken the reins as the new EC; in GLYNN county, DAVID LITTLE, KD4NUE, is the new EC; and stepping up to assume the EC position in PULASKI county is COLLIN COLLIER, N4TUA. CONGRATULATIONS to all three of them, and many thanks to each of them for their willingness to take on this new leadership role.


*** North Fulton county EC VICTOR WASILOV, KI4HPX, has announced that there will be a New CERT class starting in Alpharetta on JULY 19. He wrote: "City of Alpharetta residency is not required. All are welcome to register. The application, consent form, instructions for registration and contact information can be found on the website: www.alpharettacitizencorps.org Prior registration is required. For further information you may contact Lieutenant Gary Robinson at 678-297-6293 Day & Time of Class: Every Wednesday 6 PM-9 PM Location: Roswell Alpharetta Public Safety Training Center, 11565 Maxwell Road, Alpharetta, GA 30004"

*** While we're mentioning North Fulton, you might want to check out the website at www.fultonares.org Victor's been doing a real good job of putting up-to-date information on there that you may find interesting. (i.e. info on metro Atlanta ARES and club nets) ALSO, beginning July 11, this group will be instituting a new simplex net at 7:30 PM on 146.470. All are welcome to participate.

*** NOTE: While many of us have completed the ARRL EmComm courses, as well as a host of FEMA courses and other training, I would urge our ECs NOT to make these courses a REQUIREMENT for membership in ARES. While this training may be required by some of our served agencies before a ham can DEPLOY, it should NOT be considered a prerequisite for ARES membership. There are many roles that your membership can fulfill that do not entail deployment, and many skills that non-deployable hams can bring to the table to enhance your organization.

*** VoIP Hurricane Net Seeks Emergency Communication Groups in Hurricane Areas to Pass Traffic and Reports

The VoIP Hurricane Net is seeking ARES, RACES, SKYWARN and other emergency communication groups such as REACT, MARS and SATERN to utilize the VoIP Hurricane Net as another means to pass weather, damage and other pertinent reports to WX4NHC and other national agencies.

In 2005, we've had the National American Red Cross Headquarters check into our net on several occasions and during Hurricane Dennis, we passed the status of shelters from the Mobile, Alabama EOC to the National Red Cross. They were also able to hear the weather and damage reports as Dennis made landfall from spotters reporting their information to WX4NHC said Rob Macedo, KD1CY, Director of Operations for the VoIP Hurricane Net.

The VoIP Hurricane Net has a weekly preparedness net that meets at 0000 UTC Sunday which is Saturday Evening for most of North America. The net currently meets on IRLP reflector 9508 and utilizes the EchoLink Conferences *VKEMCOMM*, Node: 270177 and *WX-TALK* Node: 7203 in one integrated net. During activations, the net would meet using the same system. This is currently the backup system as the main Raleigh 9210 IRLP reflector system is undergoing an upgrade. Net activation connect status will be posted on the www.voipwx.net site.

The utilization of EchoLink and IRLP is another way for Amateurs to gain access to WX4NHC and other national agencies. It's another tool in the toolbox for the emergency communicator that does not replace other modes of operation, Macedo said.

It is also been utilized as alternative means to connect EOCs, National Weather Service Forecast Offices, and other emergency response agencies when no other communications are available. When HF propagation becomes poor, this is but another path that allows even our technician class operators to assist with reports and utilize the net as a way to communicate with WX4NHC and other agencies that are on the system, said Danny Musten-KD4RAA, co-Net Manager of the VoIP Hurricane Net.

During Hurricane Rita, we had the National Weather Service Offices in Shreveport, Louisiana, Houston, Texas and Dallas-Fort Worth, Texas along with the National Hurricane Center on the net. We received surface reports from the Livingston Texas Memorial Hospital of measured winds over 100 MPH, significant roof damage to a school shelter along with damage to the emergency room doors of the hospital through the efforts of WM6V-Flo Garneau said Kevin Anderson-KD5WX, co-Net Manager of the VoIP Hurricane Net.

She maintained contact with her local EOC on one frequency, while communicating to our net, providing critical surface reports. We need more efforts like what Flo did during Hurricane Rita in other hurricane prone areas said Anderson.

The VoIP Hurricane Net also has close ties to a program called StormStudy and its outreach arm, the Storm Education Team. That program is led by John Van Pelt-K4JVP and Danny Musten-KD4RAA is the team's communications engineer. It is a program dedicated to teaching people about dangerous hurricanes and severe weather safety, but more importantly for us, provides surface reports directly from the hurricane's potential affected areas.

Joining the Storm Education Team is something I've decided to do as an extension of my technical VoIP support for reporting during hurricanes. I have been a strong supporter of John's StormStudy effort and in 2005 made an active decision to join him on the road and this year, outfit my Suburban as the SET2 vehicle. The SET2 truck also has Baron Mobile Threat Net radar system and Davis Instruments weather gathering gear, but has been equipped with a very strong emphasis on communications - which includes VoIP as well as HF/VHF/UHF and satellite modes for redundant communications at the various staging areas said Musten.

During this hurricane season they will be able to cover more targeted areas with two trucks and will deploy a portable UHF repeater linked to our VoIPWX net that will not only facilitate their reporting, but also allow locals to check in with reports. John and Danny are hoping to deploy additional weather stations, that either we or other local hams can monitor in areas where there might not be Skywarn or other ARES nets active. IRLP and EchoLink repeaters are growing plentiful, but are not currently in every remote coastal area that they have visited during the 2005 season.

I've worked with the VoIP Hurricane Net since 2002 and was the first reporting station on scene of a hurricane to utilize VoIP. It's very convenient to be able to hit my space bar on my laptop and talk with WX4NHC via EchoLink. I'm really happy to have Danny as my partner in StormStudy and to have his VoIP and communications expertise with me when we deploy into hurricanes is really exciting said John Van Pelt-K4JVP.

The VoIP Hurricane Net is not just a US operation. Some of its most critical reports have also come from areas outside of the United States. One example last year was during Hurricane Emily as she affected the Caribbean islands of Trinidad, Tobago, Grenada and the Grenadines in early July 2005.

Emily rapidly intensified into a Strong Category 1 Hurricane as she went through the Caribbean islands during the overnight hours. Our net was able to make contact with stations in Trinidad, Dominica and Grenada and they relayed reports from their 75 Meter HF Weather Net to our net via VoIP so we could send critical damage reports to WX4NHC. Here is a case where we would not have been successful without utilizing both HF and VoIP modes in coordination with one another Macedo said.

In addition to more participation from US stations and emergency groups, we are looking for more stations in the Caribbean, Central America and Mexico to utilize our net as another mode to pass information to WX4NHC. Macedo said.

Julio Ripoll, WD4R, Assistant National Hurricane Center Coordinator, endorses the efforts of the VoIP Hurricane Net. Clearly, we have gained additional critical reports to the WX4NHC mission of saving lives via the efforts of the VoIP Hurricane Net and the WX4NHC team urges Amateurs to utilize the VoIP Hurricane Net as another way to reach us with critical damage and weather reports when a hurricane strikes. We monitor the net as much as possible when we have activations Ripoll said.

More information on the VoIP Hurricane Net including a link to their VoIP Hurricane Net email list can be found at http://www.voipwx.net.

In a veterinarian's office: "Be back in five minutes. Sit! Stay!"

ARES REPORT DE STAN EDWARDS, WA4DYD, DSEC

Membership: 1,181 Change since last month: 3

Total Net Sessions: 113
Drills, Tests, Training Sessions: 112 Man-hours: 1,085
Public Service Events: 9 Man-hours: 190
Emergency Operations: 6 Man-hours: 103
Misc. Events: 31 Man-hours: 186

Total Events: 158 Total Man-hours: 1,564

Reporting by District:

West Central 100.0%
Metro Atlanta 63.6%
Northwest 46.2%
Northeast 33.3%
Central 22.5%
Southwest 20.0%
Southeast 10.7%
East Central 0.0%

Total Reporting 27.0%

The following jurisdictions reported for May: Baldwin, Bartow, Camden, Carroll, Charlton, Clarke/Madison, Clayton/Hentry, Cobb, DeKalb, Fayette, Floyd, Forsyth, Fulton-North, Grady/Thomas, Gwinnett, Hall, Haralson, Houston, Lee, Lowndes, Morgan, Murray/Whitfield, Muscogee, Newton, Oglethorpe, Peach, Polk, Toombs, Walton, and Worth.

At the electric company: "We would be delighted if you send in your payment. However, if you don't, you will be."

NET REPORT DE JIM HANNA, AF4NS, STM

PUBLIC SERVICE HONOR ROLL:

STATION ACTIVITY REPORTS:

Traffic handled (QTC):

*****NOTE: Don't forget the South CARS net, which meets every day from 8 AM until 10 AM and again from noon until 2PM, on 7.251 MHz. A friendly, welcoming group of folks. Especially great company while on the road. I understand that a Trader's Net meets on this same frequency on Wednesday mornings at 10 AM.

***** Other GREAT nets:
QCWA: Saturdays at 9AM on 3857.5 MHz
SE 6M SSB Net: Sundays at 9 PM on 50.145 MHz
SE AM Net: Tuesdays at 7:30 PM on 3885 kc (AM nets ALWAYS meet on kcs...)
Hole in the Wall Net: Wednesdays at 9 PM on 50.135 MHz

"In days of old, when ops were bold and sideband not invented, the words were passed by pounding brass,
and all were quite contented." Anonymous

THIS 'N' THAT

*** CAL NEFF, K4JSR, says, "Eat your hearts out!!! Put this up in a neighborhood with CCRs and an HOA!" Me, I say, 'Talk about antenna envy..."

http://www.kkn.net/dayton2006/K9LTN.pdf

*** Coweta county EMA director EDDIE BALL, WB4QAU, "wanted you to know there is now a UHF Repeater in the Coweta County area. 441.875+ PL 82.5. Formerly coordinated to the BGMRC, recently re-coordinated to WX4ACS. This is our CERT Communications Team as well as our RACES group. The repeater is an open repeater for all amateurs use."

*** Do you know someone who's interested in getting their technician license, and who would like to take a class, but can't find one in their area?? Well, here's some information that could really be useful. BOB CARROLL, W2WG, shares this information about a FREE online technician class course. This course is offered on the Arlington Radio Public Service Club website, at www.w4ava.org  Select the Tech License Class from the menu. First open the Class 1 .pdf, then open the .wav file and follow along. Each lesson is one hour or less.

*** Or, another option for taking online instructions: The ARRL on-line Tech Class costs $69, but that cost includes a copy of the new "ARRL Ham Radio License Manual", ($24.95 value) a one-year membership to ARRL, (a $39 value) and graduate support. (priceless!) 100% guaranteed success, too. Register at www.arrl.org/cce 

*** There's a wide range of radio and electronic topics from receiver technology, phase locked loops, antennas, feeders, circuits, WiFi, etc, and even some interesting history of radio to be found at this website: www.radio-electronics.com 

*** HELP WANTED. TIM SLAY, N4IB, NC SM, writes, "The MS Society is having a new ride this year in SC, very near the border with GA. We were hoping to get some volunteers from GA to help. These events are always a lot of fun and a big communications challenge. If there are any clubs in the area who might be interested in participating, could you pass this on? This event is being sponsored by the MS chapter based in Charlotte. Anyone who is interested can contact Mary Hunt, N4MH at n4mh@w4bfb.org. Thanks & 73!"

DETAILS:
Date August 19-20, 2006

The MS 150 Bike Tour "Savannah River Ride" is a two-day scenic cycling event that travels along the Savannah River, Savannah Scenic Highway and the Sumter National Forrest. Savannah River Ride Bike Tour raises money and awareness for the National MS Society. Funds raised promote local programs and national research and programs to end the devastating effects of multiple sclerosis. The National Multiple Sclerosis Society, Mid-Atlantic Chapter serves over 6,588 people in western North Carolina and the entire state of South Carolina.

Start City/Overnight & Finish Location
Savannah Lakes Resort & Marina, McCormick, SC
Hickory Knob State Park, McCormick, SC

This event is supported by amateur radio operators who provide the communications for the event. There are rest stops every 8 to 10 miles on the event and a ham radio operator is stationed at each rest stop. The MS Society has 2 situation teams and 2 directors on the route for the event. A ham radio operator is placed with each one of these staff members or they ride with the ham radio operator in the radio equipped vehicle. We also have SAG vehicles that are ham radio operators. These vehicles (usually pick up trucks or vans) drive between the rest stops to check on the cyclists and if they break down on the road, transport them to the next rest stop.

*** ==>FOLLOW WRTC-2006 VIA THE NCJ WEB SITE BLOGS

The year's premier global contesting event, World Radiosport Team Championship 2006 (WRTC-2006) http://www.wrtc2006.com/site/home.asp, takes place July 8-9 in conjunction with the IARU HF World Championship http://www.iaru.org/contest.html.

Via Web logs (blogs), the National Contest Journal (NCJ) is giving you a front-row seat as top-notch contesters in two-person teams from around the world compete on HF from Brazil on as level a playing field as possible. The contest period is 1200 UTC Saturday, July 8, until 1200 UTC Sunday, July 9. Winners will be announced Monday, July 10, at the awards dinner.

The NCJ WRTC-2006 blogs will include the musings and general comments of WRTC-2006 competitors, referees and log checkers. We invite NCJ readers to post their comments as well.

Access the blogs from the NCJ home page http://www.ncjweb.com/ or from the WRTC-2006 coverage section http://www.ncjweb.com/wrtc2006blogs.php. Postings have already begun and will continue -- on a time-available basis, since the contributors do have WRTC-2006 responsibilities -- until WRTC-2006 wraps up.

Blog contributors are: Doug Grant, K1DG; Randy Thompson, K5ZD; Jeff Briggs, K1ZM; Ann Santos, WA1S; Tim Duffy, K3LR; Eric Scace, K3NA; Glenn Johnson, W0GJ; Ward Silver, N0AX; Dean Straw, N6BV; Tree Tyree, N6TR; Rusty Epps, W6OAT, and Dale Green, VE7SV.

The National Contest Journal thanks these contributors for being willing to share their personal WRTC-2006 experiences with the Amateur Radio community. Also, thanks to Bruce Horn, WA7BNM, for suggesting this blog and putting it on the NCJ Web site, and to the ARRL for shipping 300 copies of the special WRTC-2006 July/August NCJ issue to Brazil.

In a non-smoking area: "If we see smoke, we will assume you are on fire and will take appropriate action."

PIGLETS (AKA YOUNG HAMS)

*** This note came from MARK AULICK, KF4MLT, at the beginning of June: "I am pleased to inform you that JUSTIN FAIRCLOTH, son of RANDALL FAIRCLOTH (KI4LOF), passed his Technician test on the first try this morning. What is noteworthy about that? you ask. Justin is all of 10 years old. He went through my training class last Saturday, studied hard all this week, and passed the license test today. He is the youngest person whom I have trained, who passed the Technician test. (Second is RICKY PITTMAN, 13, son of RICK PITTMAN, KG4MAQ.) We are hoping to have both Justin and his dad at our Field Day exercise in a couple of weeks. WOO HOO!! Many thanks to the VE team of Dave Delamater, K4DJD; Wade Sampson, AD4GP; and Val Ashcraft, AF4VH." (NOTE: You can find pictures of Justin, Mark, and this fine VE team on our www.arrl-ga.org website... under "piglets")

At a car dealership: "The best way to get back on your feet- miss a car payment."

UPCOMING EVENTS

JULY 4 --- Hope y'all have (had??) a Bang Up day! And many thanks to those who've volunteered to help with communications at the Peachtree Road Race and a host of parades all over the state.

JULY 8 --- Lanierland ARC Tailgating Hamfest. For details, please see www.lanierlandarc.org 

JULY 8-9 --- World Radiosport Team Championships 1200Z-1200Z IARU HF World Championships CW/SSB 10M-160M For details, see www.iaru.org/contest.html

JULY 15-16 --- CQ Worldwide VHF Contest. 1800Z July 15- 2100Z July 16. 6 & 2M. See www.cq-amateur-radio.com 

JULY 29-30 --- Flight of the Bumblebees. CW QRP. Another QRP in the field event, combining a bit of the great outdoors with some fun operating. For info, see www.arsqrp.com/ars/pages/bumblebees/bb_rules.html

On a maternity room door: "Push. Push. Push."

Well, folks, that's about it for now. Sorry if I've left something out, but hey! We just got a brand new granddaughter! I reckon if I've forgotten anything, you'll just hear from me again. Until next time, this is AF4FO, signing clear. Take care of yourselves. And each other.

73, Susan af4fo@arrl.org   (Send me your news and tech tips!!)
ARRL Georgia Section Manager

No trees were killed in the sending of this message. However,
a large number of electrons were terribly inconvenienced.

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